Mall Delivers A Fond Farewell To Mail Carrier

Schaumburg letter carrier Denis Milas choked back tears as he pushed his mail cart through Woodfield Shopping Center, where he has delivered letters, bills and magazines for 2 1/2 years.

Store owners were equally sad. They were losing a man who greeted them by name every day, and told all of them as he walked through their doors that theirs was his favorite stop.

"They're all my favorite stops," said Milas, 55, from behind his tinted bifocals. "I love every one of these people. I'm just a mailman, but all these people are nice to me."

Milas retired Thursday from the U.S. Postal Service after 35 years--the last 29 of them at the Schaumburg post office.

He and his wife, Eileen, have sold their Algonquin home and are moving to a town near Weeki Wachee, Fla.--a place they picked because they thought the name would look cute on an address label. Milas was Woodfield's first postal carrier when the mall opened in 1971.

He was bumped from the route after only 18 months, however, when other carriers with more seniority realized the benefits of delivering mail in a climate-controlled environment free of dogs. Milas returned to the mall route in 1997--a symbol of a career come full-circle.

His last day was an emotional one at Woodfield as store owners emerged from back rooms to shake his hand, pat his back, hug him and wish him well. Some took pictures of themselves with him.

Veronica Robinson, manager of Presidential Tuxedo, was in tears as she handed Milas a bouquet of helium balloons to string to his cart--the second set he'd received that day.

On Thursday, Milas wore a pair of black patent leather shoes that Robinson had lent him for free. Milas had worn out his last pair, walking 8 to 10 miles every day along a route that included the 300 stores in Woodfield as well as the surrounding area.

"He is the nicest mailman. You don't find guys like him nowadays," said Robinson, as she watched Milas hustle away with his mail cart.

Milas' personal motto is PPE: Pride, Professionalism and Efficiency. And it shows.

He kept his ties knotted at his neck--no matter how tired he got lugging the mail. And he had his blue uniform shirts specially embroidered with the words 33 cents, First Class, and his nickname, Mr. Zip. On Thursday, his shirt was embroidered with "Retiring Thursday 3/2/00."

And he delivered the mail at a pace that surely has contributed to his slender build.

"He's like a flashback to another era," said Tim Eischen, manager of Track and Trail. "This is what mailmen were like when I was a kid. They don't make them like this anymore."